Assistant U.S. Secretary of State says 'f*** the EU' in hacked phone call, U.S. does damage control

Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych, left, greets U.S. Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland in Kiev, Ukraine. Nuland disparages the European Union in a hacked telephone recording. (AP)

A hacked or otherwise leaked recording of a telephone conversation between two U.S. diplomats is proving to be an embarrassment to the U.S. because one of them graphically disparages the European Union.

In the recording posted to YouTube today a diplomat believed to be Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and a man believed to be U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt discuss the crisis in Ukraine.

At one point in the conversation Nuland suggests that the United Nations can take the lead on resolving the crisis, instead of the EU.

“Have the UN help glue it, you know, and (expletive) the EU,” Nuland said.

Pyatt responds, “Exactly.”

U.S. officials declined to confirm the authenticity of the recording but, but state department spokeswoman Jan Psaki said: "I didn't say it was inauthentic,” the BBC reports.

White House spokesman Jay Carney stopped just short of blaming Russia for the leak, telling reporters that pro-Moscow and pro-Western forces in the Ukraine continue to fight for control, the Associated Press reports.

"I would say that since the video was first noted and tweeted out by the Russian government, I think it says something about Russia's role," Carney said.